THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Age is no bar for 60-year-old Mariana from Malaysia. When Express catches up with her, she is busy balancing herself in various yoga positions. Mariana is one among the 500 participants who is performing at the Jimmy George Indoor Stadium for the 8th Asian Yoga Sports Championship.
“ I started doing yoga at the age of 24 when I gave birth to my first baby. After my pregnancy, I had lost shape and I was looking for trainers who give pregnancy yoga classes so that I could regain my original shape. During those days, trainers were very few,” said Mariana. A group of 14 yoga experts from Malaysia who are between the age of 9-60 years are participating in the event.
“Our team will be presenting five different categories of yoga such as artistic solo, artistic pair, free flow, dance and rhythmic solo. ‘Sthira Sukha Asanam’ is one of the most important positions of yoga. ‘Sthira’ is how stable you are in posture and ‘Sukha’ is how calm and relaxed. The beauty of ‘Nada Yoga’ is that it has music. It is the vibration of creation which merges with yogasanam,” said Lingham Pillai, founder and president of Malaysian Yoga Sports Association. The seven asanas by Mariana were flaunted at the championship.
“ I consider health as my wealth. When I started doing yoga, many people saw physical changes in me and even congratulated me for looking young. Yoga makes me feel good both internally and externally.” Lingham said yoga should be practised by every body. “I have come through a lineage of swamis and have practised yoga under them for more than 25 years,” he said.
“Yoga is a part and parcel of our culture, art and heritage. The championship is to promote a sports angle to it. In some countries, people are forbidden from practicing yoga but since yoga is universal, treating it like a sport is a ticket to practicing yoga openly without any fear,” said Lingham.
The 8th edition of Asian Yoga Sports Championship opened to a packed house in the city on Thursday. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the event. For three days, the city will be draped in a rare yogic splendour, as a bevy of Asian countries battle it out in the yoga festival. It is the first time that the championship is being held in Kerala.
The championship has six separate categories viz- ‘yogasana’, ‘artistic yoga’, ‘rhythmic yoga’, ‘artistic pair yoga’, ‘free flow yoga dance’ and professional yogasana sports competition. The championship will feature six winning positions though medals will be presented only for the first three positions.